Photo: Artist Douglas Morton’s Bob White, acrylic on canvas, 1965. - Courtesy of OSAC


By Katie Ryan
Art – in its most basic visual elements – will be on display soon.
Plains of Abstraction will be exhibited at the Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre, showcasing both Saskatchewan’s deep-rooted history in modernist abstraction and the work of artists of today.
“I think it’s really important to know that all of the work is abstraction and what abstraction is,” said BCHCC cultural director, Barb McKeand.
“It can be somewhat daunting or a little confusing for people to sometimes grasp, but it’s intended to be a reduction of the representational imagery to its very basic elements and those elements are colour, line and shape, form and texture. That’s what the paintings are about, that’s the subject matter in itself.”
The exhibition  represents an overview of the evolution of abstraction in Saskatchewan, presenting the work of senior artists, many of whom were impacted by the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops in the late 1950s and early 1960s, alongside the work of a younger generation of artists.
The Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops were held north of Prince Albert in the national park and were organized as a way to lessen the isolation felt by Saskatchewan artists at the time. Workshops were led by prominent artists from outside the province, including Barnett Newman and Clement Greenberg.
The art of Saskatchewan artists such as Douglas Morton and Ted Godwin – who eventually became part of the Regina Five –honed their craft at the workshops and are part of the Plains of Abstraction exhibition, as are Joan Rankin and Otto Rogers. Contemporary Saskatchewan painters including Neal McLeod and Tammi Campbell, today are working through abstract means as well to communicate conceptual ideas in the spirit of  their predecessors.
“I think there is a revival right now globally of Abstract Expressionism and I think a lot of new abstract painters are very much aware of the modernist period, some from the ‘50s and ‘60s,” said McKeand. “It’s impacted their work, they are looking at the past as well as doing new work, considering the significance and the importance of the relationship with modernism to their work today.”
The exhibition not only creates a linear narrative of Saskatchewan modernism, reflecting the transitions from different schools or approaches of abstraction, but also illustrates the province’s contribution to Canadian art during the modernist period and the subsequent impact of the this period on a new generation of artists. When viewing the Plains of Abstraction, McKeand encourages everyone to have an open mind.
“I would invite them to respond. Not have any preconceived notions, but rather to be open to responding to the imagery they see – to the colour, to the shape, to the form, to the texture. That’s all that is required to bring to the show, to be open,” she said.
“All these works are quite large and colourful. They are quite engaging because of that, because they are so big, open and colourful. They invite you to respond and that is all that is required. Immerse your =self in that simple form, in the simple visual elements.”
Local Lego art from the Create Build Invent! exhibit will also be on display alongside Plains of Abstraction and will according to McKeand complement one another.
“I think it will be interesting, the two dynamics there. Lego has that geometrical form, sculptural, but it is reduced to its simplest form and shape. I think it may complement (the exhibit), even in terms of the bold colours and somewhat interact with the show in a positive way.”
The exhibition is from the Saskatchewan Arts Board permanent collection and is organized as a partnership between the SAB and the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils.
Plains of Abstraction will be on display as of July 1 to Aug. 23 at the BCHCC.